


Fairytale Psychosis

by soIiIoquy



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Faerie Kylo, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kylo doesn't understand boundaries, Kylo is basically Ben with a Kylo smidgen, M/M, Soft Kylux, Super Light Angst, Yes it's a thing, almost a little bit tooth-rotting even, brief Kylo POV, graduate student Hux, innocuous Possessiveness, mostly Hux POV, or how relationships work, very fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-02 12:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10944159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soIiIoquy/pseuds/soIiIoquy
Summary: Even when Hux was a young child he’d never considered himself all that interested in fairytales.Having one essentially stumble and force itself upon him didn’t exactly change that so much as have him worry he was losing his grip on reality.





	1. An Involuntary Introduction to a Life of Illusory Irregularity

**Author's Note:**

> I have this thing were I get story ideas _a lot_ , and most of them tend to come when I’m half asleep. That’s where this came from.
> 
> Plus the idea of a young Ben/Kylo being all tiny and faerie sized with a skewed understanding of how the human world works is adorable to me for some reason. Also some of what he does isn’t exactly appropriate in his world either, but Kylo is very determined when he wants something. It gets him into trouble quite often.
> 
> If you’re curious why I use _faerie_ instead of _fairy_ , it’s because I have another thing where I like what I consider to be aesthetically pleasing spellings of words. Yes, you read that right. For example, I prefer _grey_ instead of _gray_ , then of course _faerie_ instead of _fairy_.
> 
> Also, yes, that chapter title is alliterative on purpose; completely, totally, 100%.

 

 **\---)}{(** Kylo POV **)}{(---**

 

Kylo was, first and foremost, a troublesome child. Always had been, and seemingly always would be if he had anything to say about it. And he usually did.

So that’s why he found himself yet again in the human world, where he most definitely was not supposed to be. Forbidden, against the rules, absolutely never go into the human world—though the adults would sometimes, those hypocrites—, and most importantly of all,  _never_ reveal yourself to a human. The two golden rules of fae society. Kylo never did do well with rules.

He’d stopped in a field today, flowers everywhere swaying in the breeze, a sea of color with waves of shapes and sizes. Kylo stroked along the still growing petals of a small daisy. No one could ever get him to admit he liked flowers, or pretty things in general as faeries commonly were, it belied his reputation as a fearsome rogue.

Twisting around the thick stalk of a tulip, Kylo leapt up and flitted along the tops of the flowers, keeping his landings light on the balls of his feet. He wasn’t the most graceful of his kind, but this he could do easily.

Kylo had been humming the tune of an old song as he went, up until he was forced to stop dead in his tracks, the song dying on his breath and his eyes widening. Several feet away, sitting quietly amongst the shifting flowers, was a human boy, possibly close to his age. Kylo tried to observe him more attentively when the flower he’d been standing on shifted beneath him. His wings having stopped and no longer keeping him aloft, Kylo was unceremoniously dropped to the earth where he landed hard on his backside, a loosened petal falling in his lap. He looked up to grimace at the plant, as though it had purposely done it.

With a roll of his eyes, he quickly got to his feet and started heading in the direction of the boy he’d seen, intent on studying him up close.

He stopped a short distance away, both close and far enough to properly observe the boy, peering up between the stalks of tall grass and the canopy of petals that surrounded them both, yet in vastly different ways. At first glance the boy appeared relatively impassive in his expression, however, the longer Kylo stared the more he noted a relaxed softness to his pale eyes and full lips, calm focus in his gaze. Kylo wondered just what exactly the boy was doing, but was somewhat hesitant to go up and look. Admittedly, this was the closest he’d been to a human before, and while he wasn’t afraid—exactly—he _was_ a bit nervous.

And yet…he really wanted to see, he wanted to get closer. The shade cast from the boy’s downward glance kept Kylo from being able to decipher the exact color of the boy’s eyes. Were they green? Blue? The sun was blocked from providing any more light and was instead highlighting what had to be the most brilliant shade of red hair Kylo had ever seen. There were copper and gold hues mixed amongst the red, every strand boasting a different tone, a different shine. The style was fairly neat, parted at the side, fringe smartly swept across the boy’s forehead, the strands brushing the tops of his ears and the edge of his collar. It looked silky, all lovely and gleaming, and probably achingly soft despite the well-kept coiffure. Kylo really wanted to touch it. Touching things that interested him also tended to get Kylo into trouble.

When he wished to be, Kylo was quite good at keeping quiet, so he slipped through the forest of flowers and grass until he was at the very edge of the boy’s periphery, and leapt up to rest on a full grown daisy, its petals wide and pure white. His wings fluttered softly, just enough to keep his full weight off the top and allow him to sit.

He could see now that the boy was drawing, a sketchpad in his lap. There was also a thick book beside him, and a long, thin bag that looked to have several more utensils within it. Kylo wasn’t able to see particularly well just what it was the boy was drawing, so he lithely stood again and hopped across the varied blooms to take a closer look. Lurking at the ginger’s elbow still wasn’t quite enough to satisfy him, so Kylo hovered up quietly until he was near the boy’s shoulder.

The wide expanse of paper, tinged more of a beige than white, was filled in with a scenic view, one that was nowhere around. The field they sat in, however, was there, looking wispy and both detailed and vague in its lines and shading. Seeming to drift farther in, the flowers growing smaller, a few buildings came into view, a tree here and there as the perspective drew back. Each one was of a similar style to the flowers, not entirely solid, sketchy but evident. Something about them, about the entire piece, struck Kylo as a bit odd. He’d seen many works of art—his people had an almost annoying fondness for creativity—but the boy’s work didn’t evoke what Kylo was used to finding in such. There was a strong sense of…exactness about it, especially, if not primarily, the buildings. They appeared a bit more archaic compared to much of the human world nowadays, each was older and somewhat cottage-like, but none expressed any real passion or artistic whimsy. The buildings were precise despite being sketchy; they looked more like structural designs than true art.

In a strange way, the drawing reminded Kylo of what he’d seen on the boy’s face. An initial blank or blandness that, when observed closer, appeared merely relaxed and focused—that precise yet sketchy exactness. It made Kylo even more curious about the human at his side.

Kylo was no stranger to taking chances, so he chose to take one now. He dropped lightly upon the boy’s shoulder, his attention held on the pad which the boy had stopped fussing with, and tilted his head as he prepared to speak.

"You’re good. But it’s kinda lacking, don’t you think?"

"I suppose—" the brief moment of hearing the boy’s quiet accent was nice until he froze up, his shoulders stiffening and subtly jolting Kylo on his perch.

Kylo hoped down rather than stay just before the boy went to turn his head. He was already across the sketchpad, resting atop another flower much as he had earlier, using his magic to keep himself aloft rather than his wings. When the boy turned back, obviously finding no one behind him, Kylo pinned the boy with a wide smile.

"Are you an artist?" he asked calmly, trying not to laugh at the ginger’s dumbstruck expression.

The boy’s slightly parted lips seemed to waver between opening and closing, like he were trying to find words and having none come.

Tipping his head, Kylo asked with utterly false innocence, "what?"

"Am I dreaming?" the boy finally whispered, blinking rapidly as if it would clear his eyes.

"Do you want to be?"

"I— well, either I’m dreaming or I’ve lost my mind," the boy answered, his countenance relaxing a little. "I’d much prefer the former to be honest."

"I’ll be a dream if you want." Kylo figured that would be a nice excuse should he be caught later. The human believed Kylo was only a dream; he’s none the wiser.

Seemingly scrutinizing Kylo with those pale eyes of his, the boy soon drew on a small grin. "This is certainly one of my stranger dreams then. What are you, a faerie?"

Kylo grinned back, "something like that."

The boy tilted his head, a crease forming between his pale brows, "where are your wings? Aren’t faeries supposed to have those ridiculously flamboyant butterfly wings?"

"It’s annoying keeping them out all the time," Kylo replied, resisting the slight pout threatening to break his grin at the boy’s jab, "especially around you humans."

"You can hide them? Or do they simply vanish and reappear when necessary?"

Reclining back on the flower, making sure not to forget to keep himself just a bit aloft, Kylo smiled wider at the boy’s continued questioning. "You’re rather curious."

"I’m not exactly well-versed in faerie lore, so it would make sense for my subconscious to create something outside the norm," he shrugged a narrow-looking shoulder, "I’m curious as to what those alterations may be."

Curious himself, Kylo asked, "how old are you?"

Visibly puzzled again, the boy replied, "why do you ask?"

"You just sound older than you look, that’s all."

Though he had a brow still raised, the boy answered nonetheless. "As of last month, I’m eighteen."

Kylo sat forward, surprised and intrigued. "Wow! You’re older than me!" He’s not sure if it was the ginger’s delicate features or slender frame that had made him assume he was younger.

"Aren’t faeries meant to be ageless, or at least very long lived?"

"Yeah, we are. But we’ve got to start somewhere, obviously. I’m sixteen, as of two cycles ago." Kylo grinned, mocking the boy’s words a little.

The boy leaned forward, and as he did Kylo was able to discern light ginger freckles sprinkled across the bridge of the boy’s nose. They were cute, unlike his, which he hated.

"Hm," the boy hummed thoughtfully, almost incredulously. "You do look young, but also," he tipped his head in uncertainty, "tall? Somehow? I suppose I can see sixteen."

"Thanks!" Kylo smiled proudly, "I’m taller than everyone I know around my age, even ones that are a lot older. My mother says I’ll probably tower over everybody once I come of age."

"Come of age? You mean you aren’t all this size?"

Kylo snorted a laugh, "no. I mean, not exactly. Adults can take this form too, but once we come of age we can be like you–human sized."

The boy’s eyes shifted back and forth as he searched Kylo’s, then he leaned back with a soft laugh of his own. The sound was pleasant, almost surprisingly gentle, timid even, as if the reaction was something foreign for the boy, although Kylo wasn’t sure how he could possibly know that.

"What," he asked, sincerely curious.

"Nothing." The boy lightly shook his head, his ginger hair bouncing softly in the movement much like it did in the subtle breeze of the late afternoon. "I’m just surprised at my own subconscious."

"Wouldn’t that be imagination?"

A small grin pulled at the corner of the boy’s mouth. The expression seemed analogous to the laugh, something that struck Kylo as being unusual to witness. A rarity.

"Yes," he agreed, "I suppose it would be."

 

 

 **\---)}{(** Hux POV **)}{(---**

 

Hux groaned faintly, only half registering the slide of his sheets as he turned over in bed, nestling down into the mild bulk of his pillow. His eyes fluttered just slightly, slow and scarcely rousing from the comfort of his warm bed as he settled. However, as his eyes closed and stayed that way, his slowly churning mind caught up with the recognition of an out of place figure amongst the usual surroundings in his hazy line of sight.

A figure. A figure? Hux didn’t have figures?

His once tired eyes flew open, confusion and unease sending a minor spike of adrenaline through his barely conscious body, and his focus quickly narrowed down to a roughly five or six-inch figure sitting on the edge of his nightstand and staring at him. Dark hair, pale skin, unusual grey clothing and far too relaxed countenance, one long leg hanging over the side and swaying slightly, and the other drawn up, an arm resting atop it.

That…that was the faerie from his dream. Right? Right. It was a dream. So it stood to reason he was still dreaming now.

The faerie boy tipped his head, a grin on his lips and his dark eyes seeming far too expressive.

"You’re pretty," the figure said suddenly.

Hux’s eyes widened as his mouth fell open just slightly, a small warmth growing on his cheeks and flushing the tips of his ears in spite of the fact this was utterly absurd. Some tiny faerie person calling him pretty, looking at him in what Hux could only describe as fondness.

No one said things like that to Hux, no one looked at him with any such expression. This must be a dream still. It was simply the only logical explanation.

"Armitage! What on earth is taking you?" The sudden bellow of his father’s voice jolted Hux and he stared up at the closed bedroom door, cursing under his breath. When he looked back, the faerie boy was gone, and rather than a pair of dark eyes, the bright digits of his alarm clock stared at him. And he’d overslept. By nearly an hour.

"Shit!" Hux cursed again, throwing back the covers and nearly stumbling as he dropped to his feet, moving hastily from the soft touch of his floor rug to the chill of the hardwood and then marble.

If he hurried Hux could manage a five to ten minute shower, though he’d have no time to dry his hair efficiently. He’d have to hope it would air-dry enough by the time he reached the school and would stay decently out of his face without any product. It wasn’t as though this was the first time he’d overslept, but the lapse was fairly rare. Hux blamed his recent unusual dream.

Hux brushed his teeth, showered, dressed, and hastened down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, to join his father and Maratelle for breakfast. Or what little he could manage before needing to leave. His father was seated at the table already, a near empty plate before him and newspaper in his hand, unfolded and obscuring the man’s ever-scowling face. Hux ignored him as thoroughly as he ignored Hux and went to sit in the seat adjacent to the man, draping the strap of his messenger bag on the back of the chair. He reached for the pitcher of water, quickly filling his glass and downing it before refilling it again. Hux nearly startled when Maratelle appeared at his side, setting a plate before him, two pieces of lightly buttered toast and a pile of scrambled eggs, flecks of cheese and pepper visible.

"What kept you this morning?" she asked, her voice soft enough that it didn’t feel jarring in the otherwise relatively quiet kitchen.

A bit absently, Hux grabbed for his napkin and draped it across his lap. "I overslept."

"That’s not like you," she commented, coming to sit across from him with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"I don’t think I slept well," Hux nudged at the eggs with his fork, lazily collecting a bit, "strange dream."

"Oh," she intoned, friendly but not overly invested, "anything interesting?"

Hux shook his head, "no, just…unusual," then took a bite.

Despite his father’s shout earlier, the man remained silent and detached from anything going on around him and his paper. Hux didn’t mind; avoiding conversation with his father was usually preferable, especially when the man considered Hux to be at fault for something. Which was often, actually.

Maratelle occasionally shot glances toward the man, faintly disapproving ones. Even though the woman wasn’t Hux’s birth mother, and his father had in fact cheated on her in the early stages of their relationship with Hux’s mother, the woman treated him kindly. Even maternally, on occasion. Hux suspected that Maratelle had accepted his presence much like his father had taken him in when his mother was dying—he’d only been four at the time. The affirmation of his soon-to-be stepmother as barren prompted her to take an interest in Hux as a son rather than a symbol of his father’s betrayal and her inability to have children of her own. Nonetheless, Maratelle still wasn’t really a mother to him. He never referred to her as such, called her mother or any variation thereof, not even in his earlier youth, he simply called by her name.

Hux ate quickly, eager to escape and head to school even though that was hardly his favorite place in the world either. It was at least better than lounging in the stifling presence of his perpetually bitter and disparaging father.

"Thanks for breakfast," he said evenly as he stood from the table, grabbing his bag and hoisting it to his shoulder as he turned.

"Grab a banana before you go," Maratelle called out as he neared the threshold of the kitchen. Without thinking much on it, Hux briefly paused and reached for one in the bowl of fruit on the end of the counter before leaving the room, swiftly going out the door and getting into his car.

He exhaled a heavy, already weary sigh as he dropped his head on the steering wheel, the black leather cool against his skin. Something told him this would be a very long day.

"Well that was odd," a familiar but impossible voice remarked.

Hux jumped in his seat, smacking into the car door as he looked toward the origin of the voice. Sitting on the armrest compartment between the passenger and driver’s seats was the faerie boy from his dreams, looking as expressive and brazen as he had earlier.

"What the fuck!?" Hux exclaimed quietly, staring wide-eyed at the tiny raven-haired boy.

"And I thought my family was bad," he walked casually along the leather, lithely hoping up to the dash and plopping down to face Hux, "that was downright unsettling."

"You— This— You are _not_ real, you _can’t_ be real."

"Ah right," the faerie grinned, rocking in his seat, "I’m a dream."

"I—" Hux sighed with a shake of his head before running a hand through his still lightly damp hair. Then, with a twist of his lips as he realized what he’d done, he tried to fix it. "Ugh," he groaned, "I need coffee."

He pressed the start button for his car, wrapping his hands tightly around the wheel, and kept shifting his eyes to and from the faerie boy still sitting on his dash and smiling at him.

"I should have known this would be a terrible day," Hux murmured to himself as he backed out of the driveway, thoroughly ignoring the little chuckle that followed.

 

 **\--)}** || **{(--**

 

"Wait up!"

Hux hurried on, still ignoring the faerie boy as he yanked open the heavy outer door and made his way through the vacant hall, intent on reaching his first class as swiftly as possible. Hopefully the distraction of people would keep his hallucination from appearing. Because that must be what the boy was.

The small, swift sound of fluttering was beside his head and Hux jerked to the side just a little to find the faerie there, wings beating rapidly, too rapidly to really make out what they looked like.

"Slow down," the boy urged again, "your legs are a lot longer than mine." The faerie grinned, wide and lopsided, clearly joking seeing as one–that was painfully obvious, and two–the boy wasn’t even walking to begin with.

Hux rolled his eyes and kept going, uncertain if he was pleased or not by the lack of anyone in the halls. Shit, he was later than he realized. He really shouldn’t have stopped for coffee, or downed it as quickly as he could manage. But  _fuck_  he’d needed it.

"Come on, why won’t you talk to me?" the faerie whined, "you did yesterday. For hours even."

Frowning, Hux finally responded, "yesterday you were a dream. Today you’re obviously some form of hallucination, which means something is wrong with me, and I absolutely cannot deal with that right now."

The boy’s fluttering seemed to have suddenly stopped, and when he spoke again his voice was right near Hux’s ear, the not quite ticklish sensation of something ever so slightly touching his hair happening in unison.

"What if I told you I’m not an hallucination?"

Hux instinctively flicked at his shoulder, trying to dislodge the creature only to realize he was swatting at a figment of his clearly broken mind. "Doesn’t matter," he murmured angrily.

"Oh hey, wait!" The flapping of the faerie boy’s wings picked up until Hux could tell the boy was at his side again. "What’s your name?"

Surprised for some reason Hux couldn’t entirely place, he stopped. "I…" The ridiculousness hit him again and he swiftly looked over to the boy with a frown on his lips, "none of your business."

Hux caught as the faerie frowned as well just as he turned and continued on, his first period class at the end of the hall.

The soft little huff behind Hux registered only briefly because again the tiny boy was landing on his shoulder, quickly dodging as Hux swept a hand up to try and knock him off.

"I’m Kylo."

"What kind of name is—" Before Hux could say much more of his knee-jerk question, the very door he’d been headed toward began to open, and as it did Hux felt a wholly unexpected swell of panic.

Without a second thought Hux reached up to grab the faerie on his shoulder, the internal jolt of _actually_ grasping something not enough to stop him, and Hux swiftly made for the cubby beneath the stairwell. He leaned into the wall as if he could flatten himself against the cool surface, listening intently as footsteps went steadily past and grew softer the farther they headed down the hallway.

Hux had only just released a relieved sigh when he heard the voice of his faerie boy stalker.

"That was certainly unexpected."

With a swift twist of his head, Hux turned to face the voice, finding the boy hovering a foot away from his face, arms and legs crossed as if he weren’t, in fact, flying in midair. Hux looked down at his hands, empty but still pressed together as if holding something, then looked back up. Still unable to fully wrap his head around what was happening to him, Hux merely sighed, exhaling as heavy and weary as he had earlier that morning, and slid down to the floor. He tucked his knees up and dropped his head onto the wall behind him, the light thump and dull flash of pain seeming rather pleasant considering all the chaos.

"You know, I don’t much like being grabbed."

Hux scoffed, rolling his head along the hard surface. "Sorry about that." Hux then opened his eyes just to roll them at what utter nonsense his life had swiftly become. Apologizing to a figment, a tangible one even, which only worsened his prognosis. Somehow Hux felt he should have realized his perpetual loneliness would one-day breed psychosis. Though at least his hallucination, while annoying, was sort of cute.

Tipping his head back down, Hux discovered that the faerie boy had taken to sitting on Hux’s knee, staring at him with a grin much as he’d worn that morning.

"I like you."

"Wha—"

The boy hopped gracefully to his feet and drifted across the few inches separating them. Hux leaned back instinctively, his head bumping the wall again, but it didn’t stop the boy from reaching out and brushing a tiny hand along his cheek.

The faerie then moved away just a little, enough for Hux’s eyes to focus, and with a tip of his head, announced, "yes, I’ve decided. I’m going to claim you."

Hux blinked several times, his mouth falling open slightly—an expression that was becoming much too common. Hux had absolutely no idea what exactly that was supposed to mean, how he should feel about the relatively innocent possessiveness of a faerie boy, about this little creature just _deciding_ he liked Hux. Unable to find it in himself to be upset, Hux instead, against all reason, started to laugh. Nothing loud or robust, merely a soft chuckle, but a laugh all the same.

Only sparking Hux further, the boy pouted at Hux’s reaction. "What’s so funny? It’s an honor to be claimed."

Grinning, Hux shook his head minutely, "nothing really. I’m just not sure what to make of this. Some faerie creature deciding he likes me."

"Kylo," the boy stressed, dropping to Hux’s knee again.

"Oh right, Kylo." Hux’s humor settled down as he observed the boy before him more intently for the first time since they’d met. "That’s a strange name. Then again, what am I thinking to assume faeries would be given commonplace ones."

"Well," Kylo picked at the fabric of his trousers, "it’s not my _actual_ given name."

Hux raised a brow, "oh?"

"I didn’t like my old name, the old me in a sense." Kylo’s voice had become low and not quite somber, "so I gave myself a new one."

"What was your old name then?"

Kylo suddenly perked up, locking eyes with Hux again. "Only if you tell me yours."

Hux scowled half-heartedly. Tricky little thing. "What makes you think I care enough to accept that trade?"

The faerie grinned impishly, "because you’re curious."

They seemed to stare each other down for a full minute before Hux sighed, glancing away. This couldn’t be real, Hux wasn’t sure he could process this being real, but…what if it was? Hux scoffed inaudibly at himself. Ridiculous. Nevertheless, either way Hux was caught in something thoroughly beyond his understanding, beyond anything he’d ever dealt with in his life. Perhaps the deviation warranted an equal measure of irregularity. Perhaps, for once, he wouldn’t be ‘Hux,’ the dutiful student and son.

"Armitage," he answered finally, soft and vaguely hesitant as he returned his attention on Kylo.

Kylo tipped his head to the side, "you’ve got a strange name yourself there." Hux frowned lightly at that, but with a growing smile, Kylo continued, "it suits you."

"Uhm," Hux mumbled in flustered surprise, "thanks."

Smile softening in acknowledgement, Kylo then said, "my name was Ben." He stuck his tongue out in a rather endearingly childish fashion.

Hux snorted faintly with a small laugh. "That’s not so bad."

"Bleh, I hate it," he reclined on Hux’s knee, frowning at the wall adjacent to the one Hux leaned against.

Looking the small boy over, Hux could see the same wilt to his tiny frame, the same subtle air of melancholy he’d had when first speaking of how he’d chosen to change the name to something he preferred, something that was his alone. Hux found the idea to be…interesting, he was almost envious of the boy’s ability to do so.

"I like Kylo better," Hux commented softly.

When the faerie looked back at him, the sudden shift causing his hair to bounce and brush along his cheeks and neck, the curled ends hitting a couple inches below his ears, Hux thought he detected a light pinkening of the boy’s cheeks. Sure enough, though it wasn’t the easiest to notice, Hux could see a faint blush on Kylo’s cheeks, causing the tiny dark flecks on his skin to stand out further. Hux supposed they were freckles, or moles; Hux had always disliked his own freckles, but on Kylo…they suited him.

Hux sighed lightly, still grinning small and genuine in spite of himself. "What ever did I do to be followed by a faerie?" The question had been rhetorical, but that didn’t appear to stop Kylo from answering.

"You looked lonely."

Hux’s lighthearted ease faded, confusion and embarrassment taking over. "What do you mean?"

"When I saw you in that field, there was something…very quiet about you. Like you were lonely but hid it behind the silence. I guess I understand that, being lonely."

Now it was Hux’s turn to feel flustered, his own cheeks growing warm. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being followed by what might as well be a fairytale simply because he’d looked lonely, but, strangely, Hux found himself feeling appreciative. Yesterday had most definitely been odd, but Hux had enjoyed himself. Being able to let go, open up and converse with an ease he hadn’t felt since his mother.

"You’re also very pretty," Kylo chimed in suddenly, breaking Hux’s reverie, "and faeries like pretty things."

Despite Hux’s flush growing darker, warmer, he felt another laugh bubble up in his chest. Kylo’s perplexed expression only forced his grin wider and his laugh stronger.

What on earth had his life become? And why didn’t he mind?

 

 

 **\---)}** ||| **{(---**

 

 

Somehow Kylo became a near permanent fixture in Hux’s life, a lively constant in his otherwise dull and rote existence. It wasn’t long before Hux realized he considered the faerie boy his best friend, practically his only friend if he were truly honest with himself.

Every morning Hux would wake to see Kylo, or he’d make his presence known shortly thereafter, and nearly every night Kylo would linger until Hux shut his eyes and felt sleep blanketing him. Hux had asked once if Kylo actually stayed in Hux’s room or if he left, going off to his own fantastical world. He casually responded that he often lingered for a little while, but then took his leave, needing to return home whether he wished to go or not.

Despite Kylo’s vacillating conflict and enmity for his family, and even a little his species and culture in general, he had no real qualms about speaking of his world to Hux. There was almost always an openness to the boy, forward and unflinching, though it wasn’t so much that he was fearless as he simply didn’t register any reason to withhold what he meant or wanted. Hux found himself terribly envious of that, and perhaps it was one of the things that drew Hux in, keeping his interest, his curiosity peeked.

While Kylo told him that he’d been to the human world many times, secretly of course, the boy was still full of questions and a thirst to explore. Hux was surprised at himself when he’d begun essentially taking Kylo out and around his home town, the city, seeing things Hux saw often or ones and places that had always been around but he’d never bothered to care about. Kylo’s inquisitive drive turned each place, each trip, each day even, into ones that seemed brighter, more stimulating, and soon Hux realized it was actually just Kylo.

The first eighteen years of Hux’s life had gone by rather achingly slow, and terribly, frighteningly fast, rushing him toward mediocrity and death, and seeming faster each year that came and went. But this one, his eighteenth, felt _full_ , somehow. Even when they were routine they weren’t boring or exhausting in the same way as before. Kylo ignited sparks, brought color; an ironic side effect considering the almost monochrome nature of his appearance–dark hair, pale skin, and consistently dark attire. But his brown eyes were vivid, both bright and dark, and the times his cheeks would blush, his flustered expression would only be enhanced by his lack of visible color.

One thing Hux lamented more and more over the time they were together though, was how vastly different they were. Not because they would butt heads at times, bicker or tease each other often, not because Kylo was a faerie and Hux a human—not _exactly_ —, but simply because of the immense disparity in size. While Hux did enjoy when Kylo would sit on his shoulder or knee, recline in his palm and keep Hux from doing his work like he needed, Hux wanted to be able to really touch Kylo. To have the boy sit beside him, their shoulders pressed together, to hold his hand, to truly see the depth of his eyes and study each mark and line of his face. To embrace him and be held in return. To…to kiss him.

Hux’s feelings only grew stronger over the year they shared, and with college on the horizon, merely a few weeks away now, Hux was unwillingly nurturing a growing sense of uncertainty, one that kept teetering toward dread. Not really because of going off to college so much as what that meant for him and his friend.

Hux had already begun packing his things, which admittedly weren’t much, but he preferred to be prepared when the time to leave came. Unfortunately Kylo hadn’t been around all day, he wasn’t there when Hux woke, and while it happened on occasion that the faerie didn’t visit, left earlier or came late, this time felt…off, somehow.

As foolish as it was, Hux was both frustrated and upset by Kylo’s absence. He knew he shouldn’t be, Kylo wasn’t obligated to inform him of anything, he didn’t even have to see Hux at all, wasn’t even _supposed_ to in the first place, but still that feeling nudged and bothered him. Lingering uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach.

He’d only just finished taping up the last box when he heard the telltale flutter of the faerie boy’s wings. Hux rapidly jerked his head around and saw Kylo standing on one of his already sealed boxes, his wings—beautiful, luminous, and not quite like any wing Hux had ever seen—were visible and half folded at his back rather than hidden. Though Hux found them breathtaking each time, the fact Kylo hadn’t concealed them did not bode well.

"Armitage." Kylo’s voice was lower than usual, a sullen edge to it. Hux didn’t particularly like that either, and the frown he’d taken on only fell further.

"Where have you been?" he asked, sounding more antagonistic than he’d intended in his attempt to mask his hurt.

"I have to go away for a while," Kylo responded instead, bypassing a direct answer with another one. The boy was avoiding Hux’s gaze and staring down at his bare feet, his hands tightly gripping the hem of his deep blue tunic.

A flutter of fear burst in Hux’s chest at Kylo’s announcement. "Why?" Hux asked softly, begged really, though his effort to keep his tone level hid that desperation. Mostly.

"There’s this ceremony I have to be in. My coming of age ceremony," Kylo was fidgeting a little, "I have to go, I— If it was anything else, Armie—" he focused on Hux’s eyes for the first time since arriving, the sincere intensity Kylo pinned him with was nearly a physical push. "If it was anything else I wouldn’t go, I wouldn’t, I’d stay here. With you."

Hux opened his mouth to speak, feeling as though he needed to, was supposed to, but nothing was coming. Not to his tongue, not to his mind. Kylo appeared to be studying him, open as always and yet unreadable as well. Then with a hop, he moved fluid and light over to Hux, hovering up by his face rather than standing on the box Hux sat in front of. 

"I’ll come back, Armitage."

At Kylo’s continued earnestness, Hux sighed, "Kylo, I won’t be here, remember? I’m going to college, a school that I’ll live at. I won’t be here to come back to."

Kylo frowned, his tiny full lips pulling down while his brow creased slightly, his eyes narrowing, a dark, fierce determination in his gaze that Hux only saw on rare occasion.

"I’ll come back, Armitage," he declared firmly, "it doesn’t matter where you are, I’ll find you, I will. You’re mine, I claimed you. Nothing could keep me from you."

Hux’s mouth was gaping ever so slightly, the air around him heavy, the world in his periphery blurred. The boy sounded almost angry in his resolve, a little at Hux perhaps, but more so as if the idea of something or someone getting in Kylo’s way was totally unacceptable. Like he’d tear apart that hindrance without a second thought. And Hux didn’t doubt it. Even with all the light aspects of Kylo, there was always this sense Hux could feel, brushing the back of his mind and tingling along his skin, telling him that Kylo could ravage and burn whatever he touched if he truly wished too.

Soon Kylo’s expression softened, growing warmer still. "I claimed you, Armitage," Kylo dropped to stand on the box practically in Hux’s lap and nudged at Hux’s limp hand resting there. He reached for Hux’s thumb, brushing his tiny hand along it soothingly as he kept his dark eyes fixed with Hux’s.

"You’re mine," he said again, spoken with warmth as well, "I’ll always come back. Always."

Hux could feel his earlier nervous flutters taking on a whole new purpose. It wasn’t as though what Kylo was saying was some unspoken revelation. Kylo declared his ‘claim’ on Hux often, and always without the slightest hint of embarrassment or shame. As far as the faerie was concerned, Hux had been _his_ since the morning of their second day together, when he’d told Hux under the stairwell that he liked him and had decided to claim him. According to Kylo it was an honor, and considering the way Kylo said it Hux didn’t feel he meant that Hux should be pleased for Kylo ‘claiming’ him specifically, but that in his culture to be claimed by someone was an honor in itself. Hux had been curious about it from the beginning, and the stronger his feelings for the boy became, the more he wanted to ask. But he feared the response. Kylo was just so open at times that it was difficult to gauge meaning and intent the way Hux normally would with anyone else. Not to mention Kylo came from another world, an entirely foreign one, a living fairytale. What he said, no matter how earnest, could have a very different meaning. It all left Hux feeling terribly uncertain, never knowing for sure what Kylo’s interests were. However, regardless of Hux’s, or whatever Kylo’s might be, they were simply too different.

Still, while Hux might not be able to have the answers or relationship he wanted, he would never pass up keeping the faerie in his life. In many ways, Kylo was all Hux had.

Searching the boy’s eyes, Hux quietly asked, "pinky promise?" As ridiculous and utterly childish as it was, Hux couldn’t stop himself from saying it.

Kylo tipped his head to the side—one of Hux’s favorite ticks the boy possessed—, his tiny dark brow furrowing, "what’s that?"

Of course he didn’t know what a pinky promise was. Hux rolled his eyes at himself before huffing out a small laugh. "It’s a phrase, a type of way to make a promise." Hux shifted his hand, careful not to bump Kylo, and folded all fingers but his pinky to his palm, leaving the remaining digit straight. "Sometimes when people make a promise they interlock their pinkies as a gesture, a way of sealing it, acknowledging that one or both sides will keep their promise to the other."

Kylo looked thoughtfully at Hux, to Hux’s outstretched finger, and then slowly copied the hand form before touching Hux’s pinky with his own. He obviously couldn’t do much more than press their fingers together, but Hux understood nonetheless.

The faerie returned his expressive eyes to Hux, "I’ll be back, Armitage. Always."

Hux nodded, a tiny smile tugging at his lips as Kylo drew on his soft lopsided one.

"I’ll miss you, Kylo," Hux confessed with a soft tone. Taking in the boy’s expression, a faint chuckle escaped him, "whatever will I do without my little stalker flitting about me nearly 24/7?"

The boy grinned wider, "excellent question. Obviously poorly," he nodded curtly at his deduction.

With his only true friend’s imminent departure shoving at them, Hux couldn’t bring himself to tease any further, and simply kept his smile, letting it soften to levels he’d once never known he could manage until Kylo.

"Obviously," he agreed gently, sincerely.

"I don’t know what I’ll do without my pretty gingerbell," Kylo started after spending several seconds merely staring up at Hux. "You know, Armitage," he moved away from Hux’s hand, walking up his arm with barely there touches of his small, perpetually bare feet until he was about at Hux’s shoulder, and the flutter of the boy’s wings touched his left ear and blurred the space behind Kylo in Hux’s periphery, "I’ll miss you more."

Before Hux could make much protest, Kylo leaned in and pressed his lips to Hux’s cheek. The touch was only a small pressure, warm and soft, and he could feel his cheeks rapidly flush.

"I’ll miss you more," Kylo whispered, so quietly Hux wasn’t sure Kylo had spoken if not for the feel of the boy’s lips moving on his skin.

When Kylo finally moved back so Hux could see him clearly again, he forced himself to take a slow, deep breath. "Goodbye, Kylo."

"No," Kylo shook his head, "not goodbye."

Hux drew on a faint smile, "sorry, you’re right, no goodbyes."

"I’ll see you later, Armie," Kylo waved, fluttering swiftly past his head. And when Hux turned, Kylo was already gone.

Despite the promise and Kylo’s adamancy, Hux didn’t really know for sure whether Kylo was going to return or not. Of course he hoped the faerie would, but Hux had grown used to never getting what he wanted. Even though he’d been spoiled this year, he hadn’t yet forgotten that ingrained resignation.

Brushing a fingertip over his cheek, Hux whispered to the empty room, "see you."

 

 

 **\---)}** ||| **{(---**

 

 

Hux eagerly, then patiently, awaited Kylo’s return.

He waited, and waited, a year going by with no sign of the faerie. Then another, then three, then four, then five…

By that time Hux had long ago given up on Kylo ever coming back. That perhaps that year, that full bright year, had been a fluke, a strange yet pleasant hiccup in the timeline of Hux’s life. Nonetheless, as much as the practical side of Hux told him over and over that it wasn’t real, that Hux really did suffer some form of yearlong mental breakdown and hallucinated the entire thing, a part of Hux still clung to it. Clung to its reality and that it _had_ happened, he wasn’t crazy, and in his second year of college Hux switched from his major of engineering to folklore and mythology. His father had been furious but Hux was determined, determined in a way Kylo would be proud of. 

Unfortunately, Hux never found the answers he wanted, and Kylo didn’t return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Hux…why do I keep hurting him? Oh, and, not that this is terribly important, but when Kylo said ‘as of two cycles ago’ he’s talking lunar cycles, so less than two months **(｡◕‿◕｡)**
> 
> Kylo’s POV at the beginning is the only time this little piece comes from his POV; it was also the scene that inspired this **^-^** The rest is all Hux’s POV.
> 
> The ‘gingerbell’—which I adore now as an endearment, and will totally be using often—was brought to my attention by the lovely person and writer [solohux](http://archiveofourown.org/users/solohux) in their piece [_A Rose and Its Thorn_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9833939). It’s a perfect little story that I love; please do read it if you haven’t! **< 3**


	2. The Sudden Dizzying Drop Back Into A Silly Fucking Fairytale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably definitely could have posted this sooner, but I was trying to draw it out. I don’t have anything else completed yet, and I have a vow not to post anything until it’s finished (majority of edits not included). So, sorry about the slow considering how close to ready it really was… :P
> 
> ANYWAYS! Behold the chapter that is full of the tags’ promised fluff. I am a sucker for happy endings, and fluff and romance is always lovely, but I think this is the softest and fluffiest I am capable of writing for these two. I feel like any more would be too OOC and sickly sweet for me to manage.
> 
> I hope the cuddly fluffies helps alleviates any worries from the light angst of the last chapter’s end :)

Hux had only just passed his 23rd birthday, having celebrated it quiet and alone with his thick textbook and never quiet settled thoughts. His roommate, Mitaka, and the man’s small group of friends had offered to go out with him, celebrate, but Hux declined. He had never put much stock in birthdays before and he wasn’t about to change that, whether there were people in his life now or not. Though, honestly, Hux wasn’t much more than an outlier in their lives, and they in his, rather than true friendship.

Mitaka, however, had perhaps been the closest thing Hux had to a friend in college, and after graduation the man had kindly offered Hux the spare bedroom in his apartment, the two of them continuing on to grad school. Hux still steadfastly, perhaps foolishly, followed his veered path of folklore and mythology, with a side of English literature and foreign language, while Mitaka had maintained Hux’s old major of engineering.

Despite having been buried deeply in his studies, on top of his work and always upholding a confident and proficient demeanor, self assured and prepared—just as he’d done the entirety of his life—, Hux had never felt more out of control. His decision to change his major had been both spur of the moment and agonizingly considered. His determination to learn more about fae, about Kylo, had spiraled into a hidden agenda of merely proving to himself that he wasn’t crazy. The more years that passed, the more manic Hux felt, the more terrified. Half the time it was as though Hux were merely going through the motions with his schooling, not quite sure what he was doing or where he was headed, he simply did it as perfectly as he’d always done anything. With five years now passed, an oddly slapdash set of days, weeks, and months making each one, Hux at least took comfort in the fact the majority of himself had long abandoned the idea of Kylo ever coming back, had he actually existed at all. Fantasy or not, psychosis or no, Kylo was gone. Hux had all but ruined his life for the faerie boy, and Kylo was gone even in his dreams.

"Hux?" Mitaka’s quiet, unassuming voice called from Hux’s still ajar door; Hux hadn’t bothered shutting it fully after returning to his room with a poor excuse for a meal as his dinner.

"Yes?" he responded, already sensing where the conversation would be headed.

"Thanisson and I are going out for the evening, to a movie. Would you like to come?"

The request was tentative, the man not sounding particularly hopeful in Hux’s answer, especially considering Hux agreed less than a quarter of the time. Mitaka was honestly too kind for his own good, his occasional meager attempts to include Hux in anything rarely yielding results and only seemed to drain him and his friends. Often times Hux felt as though his denial was more appreciated than his acceptance.

"No, thank you. I’m busy this evening."

"Alright," he inclined his head slightly in Hux’s periphery, "I probably won’t be back tonight, so don’t expect me."

Hux nodded, "understood. Good night."

"Yes, night Hux."

Once the door of the apartment shut, Hux finally looked up and over to his own door, Mitaka having kindly pulled it closed for him when he’d left. Hux was never sure why the man bothered to keep any form of friendship between them when Hux clearly didn’t put more than the bare minimum of effort into it. Mitaka seemed to have lessened his vigor ever since he and Thanisson had begun dating, so Hux supposed the man had had a crush on him. Not that Hux could fathom why. Regardless, it at least afforded him a place to live, and that bare minimum interaction kept Hux from becoming a crazy cat person in the mean time. Although, lately he had begun stopping outside the pet shop he passed on his way to and from the new coffee place that had opened up a few weeks ago. Gazing in at the pen of kittens displayed at the window and sipping his drink absently, his attention fixed on the same one each time. The ginger fluff ball would stare at him with big green eyes, all innocent and curious, and Hux would stare back, seeing something familiar despite the depths being green and not brown.

He’d had no idea the gender of the kitten, but Hux had already deemed the ginger fluff a she and named her Millicent. It was damning somehow and he knew it, his future already being carved out. Middle-aged, stoic, occasionally aggravated literary professor who thought fairytales were real, had a cat in his one bedroom apartment, and couldn’t recall the last time he’d touched another living person or eaten a meal that didn’t come in a box. At least Millicent would love him, and he’d surely manage tenure. Perhaps he’d get lucky and his father would have an aneurysm knowing Hux would never beget a child to continue the Hux line; the last straw in a slew of utter failure. His disappointment in Hux and every decision he’d ever made clearly hadn’t been enough; Hux needed to up the ante.

The text in front of Hux had already begun to blur, his attention drifting elsewhere for the third time that evening since he’d started working on his thesis again. Lazily, he prodded the nub of his pencil eraser against a few sheets of thick beige paper beneath his textbook. Familiar lines of graphite swept across the surface, thin and thick, hard and light, sketchy and altogether too real. The marks delineating a figure Hux could only truly recreate with the help of ancient drawings he kept safely stored in a box beneath his bed. Hux searched the eyes staring up at him, hating how similar yet so wrong they were compared to the real thing, provided they ever were. Sighing lightly, Hux tucked the papers back and returned to his textbook, letting his eyes unfocus again.

The faerie boy’s face now teasing his thoughts, Hux wondered idly if Kylo would have liked cats. Hux snorted at the mental image, laughing softly in the silence of his bedroom, the sound reverberating off the blank grey walls. Kylo would probably become fodder to the cat’s play, and one or both of them would end up injured in the skirmish. Tapping his pencil rhythmically against the smooth page, the scene played out in his mind’s eye, imagination a skill he’d developed in his manic loneliness. Kylo would probably enjoy it, actually. Maybe even manage to tame the beast. Hell, for all Hux knew his kind had an affinity with animals. Many creatures in folklore did.

The impossible idea of the tiny Millicent kitten being petted and romped with by the equally tiny Kylo filled his thoughts and attention until a slight gust of wind touched Hux’s back, brushing against the nape of his neck, his loose hair ruffling a little, and the brief chill causing him to arch his shoulders. An odd fluttering sound grew from faint to loud, a thick flap with the gust before it ceased; not quickening to a halt like a bird coming to land, it simply stopped.

A sense of confusion, along with a small, insistent prod in the back of his mind flooded Hux, and he turned in his seat, searching to see if somehow he’d left his window open and a bird had flown in. Hux jumped up in surprise and a quick rush of mild panic, knocking his chair back in the hasty movement, having found not a bird, but a tall man standing in his room. The stranger was staring right at him with big, intense eyes, dark and deep; his face, his oddly, vaguely familiar face bordered by dark hair that nearly touched his broad shoulders. Dressed in unusual clothes, the color as dark as his features, his feet bare, Hux was further overcome with that nagging familiarity, that insistent prodding growing stronger.

Hux was also, essentially, dumbstruck, unable to form any words or coherent thoughts, his typically mile a minute brain ground to a stuttering halt.

"I found you," the man breathed into the silence, almost like a relieved sigh, spoken in a deep voice Hux didn’t recognize, but for some reason he felt he should, regardless.

Suddenly the man was on him, embracing him tightly, thick arms wrapped around Hux, his face at Hux’s neck and nuzzling into the curve. He was warm and familiar and Hux couldn’t seem to place why why _why_.

"I missed you so much, Armitage."

Hux’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open. There had only ever been one other person besides his immediate family who had ever called him Armitage. Only one. One he’d long ago given up on ever seeing, one that Hux had never been fully able to determine had not been a dream all along.

The jolt that had startled him, a spark trembling down his spine and to every limb, seemed to loosen his lips and restart the gears of his mind.

"Kylo?" Hux whispered, nearly inaudible.

The man relinquished some of his hold and leaned back, allowing Hux to look at him again, really look, and like another jarring bolt of electricity, Hux could see it, the familiarity that prodded him so incessantly. Kylo’s face wasn’t as soft as it had been, but it was still young, still cute—handsome, actually—, still flecked with tiny freckles and moles, his eyes still deep and brown and much too expressive, his lips far too full and interesting— _inviting_ —, and his hair still thick and dark but with a little more wave and length. He was taller, though only an inch or so more than Hux, broader—god, he’s big—, and his voice was deeper, smooth and attractive and what the hell.

Wait, he’s…he’s _big_.

"You…you’re…" Hux began, stuttering more than speaking.

Hux wasn’t sure what exactly he was trying to say, any possible words or sentences refusing to form. And besides, what _could_ he say? You’re here? You’re really real? You aren’t some tiny little pixie doll? Where the fuck were you? I thought I was mad; I basically ruined every plan for my life because of you? _You promised_?

"I’m sorry," Kylo spoke instead, Hux still unable to coalesce something that made sense. "I’m so so sorry, gingerbell." His fingers brushed lightly along Hux’s cheek, warm and gentle, and Hux couldn’t think. Gingerbell, he’d called him gingerbell. Kylo used to call him that sometimes, said it was the name of a flower where he was from, and would look at Hux with an expression he could never fully decipher. Was he teasing, was he earnest?

"Ky—"

The man—the _man,_ not boy, he wasn’t a boy—pressed his forehead against Hux’s, rolling side to side along his as Kylo murmured apologies again, his fingers still brushing Hux’s cheek and jawline. 

"I never meant— I always, _always_ intended to return, Armitage, but after my ceremony… My family knew, they knew what I’d been doing, where I’d been going. Seeing you. A human. I’d broken the most sacred rule." Kylo leaned back again, running his thumb along Hux’s cheekbone, "they kept me there, sealed me in, I couldn’t leave. And I tried, Armie, I tried so hard and for so long. I spent an entire year trying. But eventually I realized I was never going to escape that way. So I stopped and tried to think logically," he grinned, "think my actions through like you would tell me."

Hux huffed in spite of himself, rolling his eyes to the side and fighting the small grin tugging at his lips.

"I started training with my uncle again like I used to, learning everything I could. I was always stronger than them, than all the others, and they knew it, everyone did. It took time and planning, but finally I did it, I got out, and the first thing I did was come to find you, Armitage." Kylo brushed the backs of his fingers along Hux’s jaw, urging him to look at Kylo again, to catch his eyes and drown like Hux always did, even back when they were so small. "It took a little longer than I’d hoped, but I found you. I found you."

Kylo reached his caressing hand down and grasped one of Hux’s limp ones, bringing it up between them and twining their pinkies together. "I pinky promised, right?"

Hux nodded, glancing down to where their fingers linked, the memory of the past turning fresh and bright in his thoughts. Kylo’s hand was so large…large, real, human sized—not average exactly, but still human. So warm and so real and right here. Right here. Kylo was _here_.

"I meant what I said Armitage," the fierce pitch of Kylo’s voice, the intensity seeming greater now with the lower register, reminded Hux of when Kylo had promised to return all those years ago. "You’re mine, I claimed you, I promised."

Feeling a rush of excitement, familiarity, uncertainty, Hux looked up, expecting to find the dark depth in his eyes that Hux remembered as well, but instead Kylo’s lips were suddenly on his. Plush and warm and gentle and so so soft, and Hux’s surprise melted far faster than it should. Without a second thought he was giving in, pulling Kylo close, sinking the fingers of his free hand into Kylo’s hair— _god_ it’s as soft as it looked—, and Hux didn’t care one bit when he released the slightest moan against the man’s lips. Every thing about this moment should be strange, unsettling, but it wasn’t, it felt right and perfect and like a conclusion had finally been reached. And yet, new doors were thrust open, doors to an unclear future Hux couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge right now.

Kylo’s hand was slipping along his torso, rucking up and under his thin shirt, trailing goosebumps across his skin, and pausing over his heart. A gradual warmth started to grow there beneath the wide palm, the sensation becoming warmer and warmer, almost too warm even, but Hux didn’t care. And when a brief, sudden spark pressed into his skin, the vibration making him shiver, Hux could only gasp.

Seemingly refusing to withdraw from Kylo’s kiss, Hux murmured against the man’s lips, "what was that?"

"I claimed you, now it’s official." Kylo pressed his hand more firmly against Hux’s chest, his voice taking on that fierce intensity Hux recognized; he could almost feel it on his skin, taste it in the air, hear it in his thoughts. "No one can harm you, no one can touch you, no one. You’re mine."

Hux couldn’t really process that beyond the recognition of the faerie’s old chant, that innocuous possessiveness that Hux pretended irked him more than it truly did. Rather than bother with questions, he simply nodded and pushed Kylo back against his lips, kissing him deeply.

He’d worry about it later; right now, right here, was Kylo. And he was big and beautiful and human sized and Hux could finally _finally_ touch him, hold him, kiss him, and be held and kissed in return. Wrapped up in Kylo’s warmth, their pinkies, their hands still interlocked between their chests, pressed close together, the sealed promise was kept.

 

 **\--)}** || **{(--**

 

Hux stood shirtless before his bathroom mirror, the vanity lights softened due to Hux having once removed all but one of the bulbs and then draping a sheer square of beige fabric over it. His fingertips traced the simple pattern marking his skin, a subtly embossed symbol placed above his heart. The slightly raised flesh created a hexagon, a circle within it, and then within that circle, protruding from it, were needle-like points spanning the inner circumference.

Normally Hux— _Hux_ , not Armitage—would be outraged at being marked, and marked like _this_ , practically branded by a possessive fucking faerie who never could quite grasp the concept of personal space. However, for some reason, as Hux traced the pattern over and over again, he only felt a flutter beneath it, the sensation filling his chest. It was beyond absurd for Hux to feel pleased at being all but claimed—which, according to Kylo, he _was_ —; it sounded so much like property, branding and all, but it didn’t feel that way. It felt…Hux wasn’t entirely sure how it felt, but whatever it was seemed as familiar as it was vague, a dormant emotion he couldn’t quite name.

With a sigh, Hux flipped the switch and stepped back into his dimly lit bedroom, the glow of morning seeping in from the edges of his drawn scarlet curtains. Somehow he still couldn’t believe a new day was rising, with yesterday having made his world all but freeze, the past thrust to his present so abruptly Hux had hardly been able to think beyond the mere fact that his old friend, his _best_ friend, his teenage crush—a fucking _faerie_ —, was there, in his room, and big enough to embrace. As much as the logical, practical part of Hux’s brain would have been eager and adamant to talk with Kylo, to receive more explanation, the intensity of his relief and surprise and desire overwhelmed that typically prevalent force. Instead they spent time wrapped together, kissing or merely touching, holding, both seeming as though the other could slip away should they let go. Hux now realized how cliché that had been, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much, especially not as they’d both drifted into sleep, curled up to one another on his bed; far earlier than usual for Hux, but that hadn’t mattered either.

Standing at the foot of his bed now, Hux simply looked at the man—the _man_ —, Kylo, his Kylo, his tiny faerie stalker from years ago, years that had always been so distant yet so near. In the entirety of their time together Hux had never seen Kylo truly asleep. Relaxing–yes, eyes closed as he did so–yes, but neither were sleep. Kylo had always needed to leave at night, always merely lingering until Hux himself drifted off before vanishing to return to whatever world or realm he hailed from.

Moving slowly, gently, Hux lowered down to sit on the edge of the bed, Kylo on his side and facing him. In sleep he looked even younger somehow, his dark lashes brushing his lightly freckled cheeks, his thick hair mussed around his head. Hux grinned in spite of himself as he reached out to tuck a strand that had fallen across his cheek behind his ear; he ran the tips of his fingers along the shell, Kylo’s ears still as endearingly large as they had been in his youth. They’d grown _with_ him rather than him growing into them. Even with his larger frame and stronger features Hux could still see the boy who had brazenly declared his interest, that Hux was pretty, that he was liked and claimed, such an important and honored gesture apparently. Hux hadn’t thought on it much at the time, simply letting it be, although the longer they knew one another the more he’d wished to know how earnest the faerie’s declarations were. But, in the end, Hux never bothered to ask, not once, a choice fairly unusual for him. In the years Hux spent uncertain if his eighteenth one had been a dream or reality, Hux wondered if he'd avoided doing so not because he was actually afraid of the answer, but simply because he had never really belonged to anyone. Not in a way that mattered, a way where the other party truly cared for him. And he liked having that.

Kylo shifted beneath Hux’s light touch, "Armie?" he murmured, his eyes still closed.

"I’m here." Hux pressed his palm firmer to Kylo’s cheek, running his thumb along the arch of his cheekbone as the man’s eyes fluttered open.

"Mmm," he hummed sleepily, a small smile forming. "I missed you."

Hux rolled his eyes, "yes, you’ve told me."

"No," Kylo shook his head, mussing his hair further, "I mean now, last night while we slept, I missed you."

"We were _asleep_ , Kylo, I was right beside you, how could you possibly miss me?"

"How could I not?" Kylo fixed his dark eyes with Hux’s, the depths thick and vivid from sleep, sincere curiosity there. If the man weren’t lying down Hux was certain he’d have cocked his head to the side, as he so often did.

"You are honestly baffling," Hux chuckled faintly under his breath after a small silence passed between them. He’d started to move away, to stand again and grab a shirt before heading to the kitchen, when his hand was seized and jerked, tugging Hux down onto the bed. "Ohmph!" Hux exclaimed breathily, "Kylo, what the hell?"

Kylo kept his hand captive and twined their fingers and forearms between them, "stay."

"I was just going to get something to eat, that’s all."

"I don’t want you to leave," Kylo whispered, gripping Hux’s hand tighter, "you can’t leave…please."

Hux sighed and edged just a little closer to the man, "I’m not going to leave, Kylo, I promise," he tightened his grip in return, "don’t you leave either."

Kylo tipped his head forward until their foreheads pressed together, "never, never, never." He bumped their noses, grinning when Hux wrinkled his in response, "I’ll stay always, remember?" Kylo pressed their linked hands against the mark on Hux’s chest, "I promised always."

Hux shut his eyes briefly, giving up fighting the smiles Kylo kept forcing out of him, the expression so foreign after so long. "I remember."

"Good," Kylo leaned back just enough to tilt his head and brush their lips together, "good."

After several kisses, Hux managed to murmur against the other man’s lips, "Kylo…breakfast."

"Not yet," he breathed.

"I’m hungry," Hux replied in minor annoyance, the tone lighter than he’d wanted.

"Later."

Hux rolled his eyes with a groan, "Kylo," he pressed his fingers to the man’s plush mouth, the two of them practically kissing Hux’s hand rather than each other now. "There is plenty of time, you said so yourself. You’re here to stay, remember?"

He nodded, "always." The muffled word sent a slight vibration across Hux’s skin.

"Then this can wait."

Hux could feel Kylo’s pout, his displeased but resigned expression showing strongly within his gaze that remained fixed with Hux’s; the brown never ceased to seemingly peer right into his soul. Hux removed his hand and quickly pecked the man’s lips before leaning back and sitting up, albeit a bit awkwardly since Kylo wouldn’t relinquish his hand. Rather than fight to free himself, Hux continued getting up and Kylo followed, keeping their link in tact as Hux brought him to the door, grabbing his shirt from last night off the chair.

Kylo remained fairly quiet as they walked the short distance across the living room, rounding the corner of the thin island that separated the kitchen from the other space. Before Hux began rummaging for something they could eat, he turned back to Kylo, who was still looking around with a relaxed face but expressive eyes, and gently tugged at his kept hand.

"Could I have my hand back now?"

The faerie looked at him, then down to their hands, his thumb stroking along Hux’s. He turned back up, tilted his head just a bit, and had the gall to say, "what do I get if I do?"

Hux arched a brow, "are you serious? Don’t be childish, Kylo, I need my hand."

Kylo raised their linked hands and pressed them to his lips, Hux’s fingers brushing against the soft skin, "I need it too," he countered, a smirk curling the corner of his mouth, "I think I deserve fair compensation."

"Childish," Hux remarked again, frowning lightly but unable to build any true irritation.

"Then I’m childish."

With a heavy sigh, Hux decided to give in and avoid a long run around. He was hungry and the air outside his bedroom was much chillier on his bare skin. "Alright, what do you want?"

Again the man tipped his head, a thoughtful expression taking over his impish one.

"Everything," he finally answered.

Hux scoffed, "everything? That’s hardly fair compensation."

"I think it’s entirely fair," Kylo shrugged.

"It most definitely is not," he countered quickly, then rolled his eyes with a sigh, "but regardless, it hardly matters."

A puzzled crease formed between Kylo’s dark brows, "why?"

"I lost everything to you a long time ago."

"So I already have everything," Kylo grinned, triumphant and genuinely pleased, kissing Hux’s fingers again, "and now I have forever."

Normally that word wouldn’t mean much more than what already seemed to be set in stone between them, a definition that applied to any couple intending to spend their lives together. A forever that was finite to the rules of mortality. But the depth of Kylo’s eyes, the way the air felt as though it hummed around Hux, his skin tingling and the raised flesh creating Kylo’s mark growing warm, forced an insistent worry to the forefront of Hux’s mind. Kylo spoke of forever as _forever_. Eternal, or at least greatly extended.

"Forever?" Hux murmured as the thought pushed free, though only in the form of a single word.

Kylo nodded as he raised his free hand to Hux’s chest and lightly traced the mark, his fingertips smooth on Hux’s still too warm flesh; the contact sent a spark through Hux much as it had last night. The air was quickly growing heavy, charged, the world blurring in his periphery. The shift in reality was familiar but not common with the faerie, usually spiking when Kylo was quite fervent or intense about something.

"Forever, gingerbell, my Armitage," Kylo then pressed his palm against the mark, the warmth growing till it was near burning, pulsating, tingling, "I claimed you, you’re mine." The sensation gradually eased as a soft, almost bashful smile curled the man’s full lips, "and I’m yours."

Gaping, always rendered speechless from Kylo’s silly, overly sentimental words, Hux merely gave the faintest nod. Time seemed to drag on between them, the sharp haze that had settled around Hux keeping much of his sense at bay. However, he soon managed to collect himself, the snag in Kylo’s words, the meaning behind his dramatic nonsense finally registering.

"Wait," Hux said quietly, "when you say forever, do you mean…"

Kylo nodded before Hux could complete his thought, "of course," he answered matter-of-factly, "what else would I mean?"

"I— Well, when most people say forever they mean until they die."

"Yes?"

Hux searched Kylo’s eyes; he appeared to be growing as confused as Hux was. "So…are you saying that we, that _I_ …will live _your_ forever, as in, as long as you would?"

"Obviously," Kylo’s brow furrowed deeper, a questioning edge to his voice.

"But…" Hux gaped again, his eyes wide, "you…faeries can live for centuries! Millennia! How…Kylo, I…how on _earth_ am I supposed to live like that? People don’t just continue looking 23 for decades, people _age_. How am I supposed to live in the world when I don’t age?" A swell of panic was rising in Hux, his prior anxieties about his future seemed like flecks of nothing in comparison.

"Armitage," Kylo said gently, his free hand now on Hux’s cheek, though Hux barely registered the touch.

"What am I going to do? Go to your world? I can’t…right? I don’t belong there, I’m not…I…"

"Armitage!"

"What?!" Hux jerked his gaze to lock with Kylo’s.

The man’s expression softened as Kylo sighed, stepping closer and carefully removing Hux’s free hand from his mussed ginger hair where he’d unconsciously tangled it in his panic. "Calm down, everything will be fine."

"How? How is bestowing a lifespan of millennia on a human _fine_?"

"Because it’s you, and you’re mine."

"You claimed me. Right…" Hux followed up Kylo’s usual chant, though faintly derisive. "What does that even _mean_?" The old part of him that had staunchly avoided asking that weighted question no longer held as much sway over his decision making. Hux needed an answer; the stakes had most definitely been raised.

"It means I chose you," the faerie tipped his head, his hand back on Hux’s cheek and stroking slowly, "I chose you to be mine, my one, to hold and cherish, to share my heart and my life, to make me whole." His thumb slid down to brush over Hux’s lower lip, his eyes following it, "I knew from the very beginning, I knew you were meant for me," he looked up, pinning Hux with that burning intensity he could never forget, "you were meant just for me, Armitage Hux."

This was the second time in Hux’s life where he was absolutely certain he’d become irrevocably trapped in a fairytale, because who _talked_ like that if not a quixotic character in some whimsical story of fantasy, faeries, and true love. That _was_ what Kylo was talking about, wasn’t it? True love.

"Are you saying you love me, Kylo?"

"Isn’t that obvious?" he asked curiously, his thumb still tracing Hux’s lip, "I’ve always loved you."

Hux blinked rapidly, trying to process the words and the sudden shifting of all his past memories with the knowledge that Kylo had loved him back then, each one reshaping until they appeared fresh and new. Hux could not believe he’d somehow ended up as the damsel in this fucking fairytale, or that he was actually in love with the overly dramatic fool loosely termed the hero, his knight in shining butterfly wings.

"I swear to god, Kylo, if I wake up and this was all a dream I’m going to hate myself for not strangling you right now for saying all that."

Kylo laughed, deep and quiet, "don’t worry, you’re not dreaming. And I know you liked what I said." He leaned forward, tipping Hux’s chin up the small amount needed to bring their lips together, the press gentle.

"You’ve always been terribly presumptuous," Hux chastised with no bite.

"Doesn’t mean I’m wrong," he grinned against Hux’s lips.

Hux brought his hand up to the side of Kylo’s face, slipping his fingers into the man’s thick hair. "God, you’re an idiot," Hux sighed with a smile, then eagerly pulled Kylo in for a kiss, deep and passionate, and Hux realized hazily that he was no longer cold.

It was several minutes before they parted, both finally taking more fulfilling breaths.

"I think I won my hand back now," Hux said between soft pants.

With an airy chuckle, Kylo nodded, bringing their twined hands to his lips again, then relinquishing his hold. "I suppose so."

Hux snorted, "you suppose," he echoed under his breath.

Once Hux had regained the use of his hand he quickly pulled his shirt on, tugging it as straight as possible despite the rumpled look forced into it from the night before. Hux then went about preparing something for breakfast. He was still hungry but not terribly, nor was he sure of Kylo’s appetite, so he decided to make some scrambled eggs for the time being. A classic breakfast dish imbedded in Hux from his generally bland family life.

He’d just finished adding the whisked yolks to the heated skillet when Kylo’s arms were wrapping around him, his chin resting on Hux’s shoulder.

"What are you making?"

"Scrambled eggs."

"What’s that?"

Hux blinked, not entirely sure why he would have thought Kylo would know what scrambled eggs were. What did his kind even eat, anyway? Hux couldn’t imagine Kylo partaking of any of the somewhat absurd diets he’d read about in his research; even more general things such as berries seemed out of place.

"Uh," Hux intoned hesitantly, "I’m not sure how to answer that without sounding a little barbaric."

"So? It’s not like I’m opposed to less than appropriate things," Kylo replied casually, shrugging against Hux’s back.

"True," Hux agreed, knowing full well the veracity of that statement. "Scrambled eggs is a dish made from the yolks of birds eggs, typically unfertilized chicken eggs. That’s a type of flightless bird, one humans generally eat as well."

"Hm," Kylo hummed thoughtfully, possibly knowingly, "we eat meat, but not the unborn ones."

"I’d wondered if you ate meat. It’s not always easy to tell considering the nature of myths and fairytales."

Hux could feel Kylo pressing a smile against his neck, "do I feel like a myth? A fairytale?"

"You’ve always been a fairytale, Kylo. It just so happens that you’re also actually real."

Kylo chuckled, the vibration thrumming down Hux’s neck, to his chest, and trembling along his spine.

Hux had been ready to comment on the man’s laugh when he heard the lock of the front door click and the slight creak as it opened. Jolting a bit stiffly, confusing Kylo—who had apparently not heard the sound—Hux tried to turn, a drop in his gut at the idea of Mitaka finding him still dressed in the loose shirt and pajama bottoms he’d been wearing the day before and a strange bare-chested man embracing him.

"Hux?" Mitaka called out.

"Uh, in here," he replied, trying to keep his hesitant voice steady, "the kitchen, I mean."

Kylo gently squeezed Hux tighter, nudging his long nose against Hux’s neck. "Who’s that?"

"My roommate."

"What’s a roommate?" Hux didn’t need to see Kylo to know he’d tipped his head, his brow furrowed and eyes slightly narrow. Likely as jealous as he was curious.

"He’s a…well, sort of a friend, I guess, and one who I share this apartment with."

Hux somewhat awkwardly managed to maneuver the two of them toward the island—seeing as Kylo obviously wouldn’t let go—, allowing Mitaka to see them plainly, as well as keep Kylo from responding further.

"Oh," Mitaka froze, his ring of keys and obnoxious charms still in his hand and hovering above the black basket they used for mail. "I…uh, wow, Hux… I wasn’t expecting you to…uh…have someone over."

The way Mitaka stuttered made Hux desperately want to cover his face in embarrassment. In fact, he was absolutely certain his face was now colored with a rosy flush that betrayed it. Probably also implying a situation Mitaka no doubt already believed happened when it most definitely had _not_.

"Yes," Hux lightly cleared his throat, "sorry for the surprise. It was rather a shock myself. This is Kylo," he gestured vaguely toward the man still wrapped around his torso, "he’s an old friend of mine from high school. We had been forced to lose touch just before I left for college but happened to run into each other after all this time." Hux smiled, the expression feeling strange and a bit too uneven to appear at ease, especially considering that clumsy and somewhat hastily given explanation.

"How nice," Mitaka grinned back, unaffected by Hux’s subtle peculiarity, his mien far warmer and genuine than Hux’s was. "It’s been a while since you got out with anyone. I’m glad for you."

"Uh, thanks," Hux responded, a bit peeved at the man bringing up Hux’s reclusive tendencies.

"Well, I just came back to change; I’ve got class in an hour. Then I’ll be out of your hair." The continued smile Mitaka pinned on Hux was becoming far too suggestive, even if harmlessly, as though he’d interrupted something much more intimate than had been going on.

"Right," Hux answered regardless.

Mitaka waved lightly as he headed into his bedroom and gently shut the door. Hux then sighed heavily, drooping in Kylo’s unwavering hold.

"What?" Kylo asked, honest curiosity in his tone. Because _of course_ Kylo wouldn’t understand how terribly uncomfortable that had been for Hux. Such discomfort hardly ever seemed to register with the faerie, not when they were young and very likely not now.

"It’s nothing."

"Liar," Kylo remarked knowingly.

Hux rolled his eyes, "it’s just…that was rather embarrassing."

"Why?"

"Because…because he was thinking there was more going on here than there actually was."

Hux could practically hear as Kylo’s brows drew together, "what do you mean?"

"Please don’t make me say it," Hux sighed wearily, turning back toward the kitchen and leading them over to where the eggs were quite ruined; why hadn’t he thought to turn off the burner?

"Tell me," Kylo urged, nudging Hux’s neck like he’d done earlier. Sometimes the faerie was more reminiscent of a dog than a typically lovely and mystical creature; his big brown eyes and thick hair didn’t help alter that comparison.

"He thought…" Hux hesitated, "he thought we’d been doing more than making breakfast, or sleeping together, with our clothes _on_."

Kylo was silent for a few moments before it clearly dawned on him just what Hux was referring to. "You mean sex."

"Fuck, Kylo, please shut up," Hux groaned, now taking the opportunity to hide his face behind his hands, attempting to escape the ever-increasing embarrassment. Yes, the idiotic faerie was just as unflinching as always. 

"What’s the problem?" Kylo asked sincerely, "does that bother you?"

"Yes—I mean, _no_ , I just… I don’t want the intimate details of my personal life on display for anyone, especially Mitaka. But I don’t have a _problem_ with it."

"Oh…good," Kylo responded with a pleased grin in his voice.

"And just what is so good about that?"

"Because I want that. Sex, with you."

"Oh my god, Kylo, _shut! up!_ "

The man snickered at his ear before pressing a kiss to Hux’s narrow shoulder, his neck, trailing them up to his pinkened cheek. Hux sighed, both drained and faintly amused. Even with five years dividing them from their past together, Hux still seemed incapable of being truly upset with the faerie. Or at least not for long, anyway. Turning his head, Hux leaned back just a little to look at the man. Kylo quickly seized the opportunity to catch Hux’s lips with his own.

Hux pressed back, allowing the firm brush for a moment or two, then edged away just slightly. "You are so god damn fucking impossible," he kissed Kylo again, only another brush, "you silly little faerie."

"Not little anymore," Kylo murmured against Hux’s lips.

"No," Hux grinned, "no, you’re certainly not."

 

 

 **\---)}** ||| **{(---**

 

 

"Kylo?" Hux spoke softly in the quiet of his—no, _their_ —bedroom.

"Hm?" the man hummed, the two of them staring at their raised hands, their fingers laced together and Kylo’s thumb stroking along Hux’s, gentle, slow, and the pad so smooth.

"I’d been meaning to ask for a while now, but, this mark," Hux traced the raised flesh on his chest with his free hand, "this claim…you speak of it like it’s a reciprocal thing, but we— _I_ can’t reciprocate it. Doesn’t that mean…something?" Hux tightened his grasp of Kylo’s hand marginally, uncertain of just what he was asking but feeling a faint sense of dread all the same.

"Perhaps for someone normal it would."

"Normal?" Hux turned his head to look at the man beside him, his mussed dark hair spilled across the pillow far more than Hux’s. Unsurprisingly, Kylo was already facing him.

"Yes, someone without magic beyond that of an average faerie. A claim can’t be fully made if it’s not reciprocated, otherwise it’s only words."

Hux’s brow creased uncertainly, confusion and worry curling stronger in his chest, "I can’t reciprocate though. At least not like you. All I _can_ do is words."

Kylo searched Hux’s eyes briefly before shifting to turn on his side, lightly tugging their linked hands and urging Hux to do the same.

"You may not have magic, but your words still have meaning, still have power," Kylo moved closer, their arms now twined between them as well, "and my magic is enough for both of us." The man glanced down to Hux’s chest, his eyes undoubtedly tracing the pattern. "I spent a long while creating that claim mark, to make it perfect for you, for us, since you weren’t able to finalize the link."

"Link?" Hux’s follow of Kylo’s words stumbled briefly. Kylo had never referred to the claim as a link before; it was always just a physical manifestation of a claim, his love, something that protected Hux by merely being.

"Yes, link," Kylo echoed without noticing Hux’s confusion, "a claim links a pair together, like a tether, a living thread that channels life from one to the other."

Hux blinked slowly, processing the faerie’s words. The way Kylo spoke had always been fantastical in some way or another, whether because of the content or simply the way in which he did it. Even now, after nearly a month of having his faerie back, Hux still had trouble readjusting to it. Not that he’d ever been particularly good at navigating it before.

"Are…" Hux hesitated, wary of speaking the words, the action somehow making it all real in a way the intangible thought never was, "are you saying that we’re literally linked, as in, if one of us dies they lose half of themselves? Or all? Dying as well?" The thought swiftly grew sharp and terrible, a pain spreading out and radiating both as a dull, impossible to escape ache and a constant, piercing stab along every inch of him.

For a moment Kylo’s grip on Hux tightened significantly, his eyes, still not focused on Hux’s, reflected darkly, the fierce depth Hux only saw on rare occasion. The room appeared to darken as well, the air turning thick and heavy, the world at the fringe of his gaze nebulous, Hux’s skin starting to tingle and his claim mark to warm. After the man drew in a few slow breaths, everything returned to normal, and Kylo eventually looked back up to settle his softened eyes on Hux.

"Yes, that’s how it works."

"But…" Hux felt himself drowning in the brown of the faerie’s far too expressive eyes.

"Don’t worry, gingerbell," Kylo brought their linked hands to his lips, pressing a kiss on Hux’s laced fingers, a physical endearment Hux could never seem to get enough of. "I made sure to create a perfect claim. No one can harm you, no one can touch you, no one. You’re mine, I’ll protect you," his eyes closed, a deep breath Hux could feel the man take sweeping against his skin, "always."

"What about you?" Hux whispered, pressing his own lips to Kylo’s fingers. "How can I accept knowing you spent so much on keeping me safe and I can do nothing for you?"

"You don’t need to worry about me," Kylo flashed his eyes open, locking with Hux’s, the two of them stubborn and determined in their stares.

"Of course I worry about you," Hux frowned, "just because you’re a giant fucking faerie with magical nonsense doesn’t make you invulnerable."

"There’s really no reason to worry, Armitage," Kylo pouted right back, "besides, I created the claim to remove the magic slowing your aging if I were to die. You’d live out the rest of your life as if you’d never gotten the mark."

Hux’s eyes widened marginally, his frustration taking a sudden shift into surprise before it quickly spiraled back down, going further until his narrowed eyes and curled lip expressed only indignant rage. The emotion grew so swiftly it was almost dizzying in the rush.

"How dare you!" Hux hissed, his desire to shout held back only because he didn’t want Mitaka hearing.

Now it was Kylo’s turn to portray shock. "How dare I what? Care about you enough so you won’t wither and die of heartbreak?"

"No," Hux scoffed harshly, his grip in Kylo’s tightening as painfully as he could manage, "how dare you even insinuate that my worry was for fear of my own death!" Furious and hurt, Hux quickly sat up, jerking at their linked hands, "let go!"

"No!" Kylo followed, sitting at Hux’s side and trying to force Hux to look at him.

"Let go _right_ _now_ , Kylo." Hux snarled through his teeth, his eyes as cold as he could manage despite the burn of tears threatening behind them.

"No, I won’t!" Instead Kylo strengthened their twined hands and tugged, forcing Hux to stumble into his bare chest. "I didn’t mean it like that!" The exclamation sounded almost as though Kylo was begging, begging for Hux to understand, to not be angry.

As much as Hux wanted to push against Kylo’s chest, shove away from the usual comfort of the man’s lap, his fire died out much faster than he’d have thought it would. His usual inability to grow truly angry with the man clearly still intact enough to smother the fire of the rare moment he did. Kylo’s other arm wrapped around Hux’s waist, keeping him close and leaving no chance for Hux to escape.

"I didn’t mean it like that," Kylo said again, much softer this time, the depth of his brown eyes wet and saddened. "I just…"

"You just what?" Hux murmured with a faint frown, unable to stop himself from speaking.

"I don’t want you having to think of me dying, not ever…" The man was whispering against their hands, his eyes downcast now.

"Did you think bringing that up would keep me from thinking about it? All it tells me is that if I died you’d suffer more than my passing. Besides, what makes you think humans don’t die from heartbreak?"

Kylo’s eyes snapped up, wide and fearful, a terror in the tear-lined depths Hux had never seen before, not once, the expression almost shaking Hux to his core, like it was a physical force being thrust at him. Even the air felt like it was trembling around them. The abnormality resonated deeply in Hux and urged him to question his words, worrying on how to fix and quell whatever panic was growing rapidly in the faerie’s highly imaginative mind.

"Kylo," Hux reached up his free hand to stroke through the man’s tussled hair, "my sweet, silly little faerie," a grin teased the corner of his lips when Kylo’s eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into the gentle caress. "Whatever you’re worrying about is most likely far from the truth. Humans are different, remember?"

"You can’t die, Armitage," Kylo pressed Hux closer to him, kissing their linked fingers, "my gingerbell," the heated brush of a wet tear touched Hux’s hand, "I’d die any death if it kept you alive."

Hux rolled his eyes at the melodramatics, though he felt the traitorous pressure and sting of his own tears building. Of course he wanted to argue the admission as well, as if he’d ever allow Kylo to do something like that, especially for him. However, Hux very much understood the sentiment, and he knew that in doing so they’d only end up going in circles.

"Look at me, sweetling," Hux said gently, watching as Kylo’s dark lashes, stuck together with tears, slowly opened, and his sorrowful eyes returned to pinning Hux with his drowning stare. "I’d do the same for you."

Hux could swear he saw the exact same thought pattern reflecting back at him from Kylo’s gaze, but the man kept quiet on that as well.

"I adore you, gingerbell," Kylo’s small smile replaced the tears touching Hux’s skin.

"You’re such a sentimental faerie."

Kylo’s grin only widened as he moved their linked hands from between their mouths so he could lean forward and press his lips to Hux’s instead. The brush was light, chaste, and Hux couldn’t help but grin in return.

"Maudlin…dramatic…disgustingly romantic," Hux murmured between every soft and firm touch of Kylo’s plush lips against his.

With a deeper, longer press, the kiss growing intense as Kylo held Hux closer and Hux’s fingers in Kylo’s hair slid deeper, the man whispered so softly Hux thought it was somehow only in his head. "You talk too much."

Hux smiled, the curve slight but genuine, "then shut me up."

"Gladly," Kylo answered, with dark eyes and a mischievous smirk, "so very gladly."

 

 

 **\---)}** ||| **{(---**

 

 

The spring breeze was warm, the gentle brush on his skin and rustling of his hair reminding Hux greatly of the day he and Kylo first met, and in the very field they now stood. An odd pair for certain, but inexplicably compatible. Or, perhaps inexplicably entwined. Kylo would adamantly assure Hux it was fate, though Hux suspected it was nothing more than chance, an overly curious, brazen faerie and a lonely human boy.

Kylo released a soft sigh, contented and gentle, the breath seeming hot against Hux’s neck compared to the breeze. He nuzzled the tip of his long nose into the curve, his lips doing the same, a grin being pressed into the skin. Kylo’s thick arms tightened briefly around Hux as he exhaled another pleased sigh, wrapping Hux up in an embrace from behind. A common position for him, regardless of the circumstance—Kylo was very tactile. Often Hux would feign irritation of the consistent touches, Kylo’s unflinching hold, the faerie’s ostensible need to be ensconcing Hux like a stuffed toy, but, truthfully, he never was. Not really. It certainly made studying or researching for his thesis far more pleasant when Kylo would be curled around him, Hux nestled in his warm lap.

"I always liked it here," Kylo murmured.

Hux felt the corner of his mouth turn up, "was that before or after you interrupted me and my life?"

"Both."

Scoffing softly in response, Hux rolled his eyes at Kylo’s easy answer, his low timbre void of teasing, merely smooth and honest.

"So, my silly little faerie likes flowers, hm?"

"Sshh," Kylo intoned at Hux’s ear, "it’s a secret."

"A secret," Hux repeated, a brow arched and a faint smirk on his lips.

"Obviously," the man nodded, "I couldn’t have anyone knowing I had something so stereotypically in common with my own kin."

"Ah, yes, how could I forget. You’re a terrible, dark creature." Hux turned his head slightly, peering playfully at Kylo from the corner of his eye.

"Oh I am," he grinned mischievously before pressing a kiss to Hux's cheek.

Hux smirked, "yes, of course you are."

As much as Hux enjoyed lightheartedly mocking Kylo whenever he would try to impress upon Hux his more troublesome and devious nature as being one of fact, an attitude that was the norm for him in his own world and home, Hux never actually doubted him. Though it wasn’t usual for the faerie, there was occasionally a flicker of something much darker in Kylo’s typically warm gaze, his moments of intensity–ones where the power he possessed would show and morph the world around them–could feel almost stifling in a way that actually chilled.

Seemingly as if reading his mind, thinking on the faerie's silly magic, Kylo shifted his arms, turning them enough to catch one of Hux’s hands in one of his own—as Hux had had his arms similarly wrapped around himself, locking Kylo’s in against him. Cupping Hux’s hand in his larger one, Hux felt as a tingling sensation began to hum along his skin, bringing about goosebumps and causing the mark on his chest to warm.

"You know what my favorite flower is?" Kylo asked softly, his cheek aside Hux’s.

Hux arched a brow, trying to eye the man in his periphery. He was fairly certain he knew the answer, but whether he gave it or not, Kylo would surely respond nonetheless. "Do tell," Hux said with a smirk.

The gentle vibration grew, prompting Hux’s attention to return to where their hands were touching. A heavy, warm haze enveloped them as Hux watched a light appear in the center of his palm, a soft glow that shifted from white to gold to a gilded ginger with an almost copper hue. The color was multi-toned and rather reminded Hux of his own hair color. Slowly, a thin, almost threadlike line curled up from the glow, growing just a bit thicker as it solidified, the strand white much as the glow had once been before it began to shift as well. Pure white gave way to a gentle light blue, quickly becoming darker then merging with a soft green, the two mixing further into teal. Coming up from nothing again were two new white strands, ones that widened and grew flat—looking much like blades of grass or a flower’s leaves—, one moving midway up the verdant strand and the other growing higher. They took on the green quicker than the strand, bleeding to the pointed tips, the bottom veined lightly with the blue before it vanished into nothing but green until halfway where gold blended in and remained to the pointed ends of the flat pieces. The strand then grew taller, stem-like, the top starting to curve just slightly while smaller curved ends of the verdant thread grew out. One, then two, then a third on the opposite side, the one at the top longer than the second and third below it. Growing still, the white glow continued out from the three short ends, blooming wider, longer, and splitting into five points. The bell shape began taking on color, the white becoming that brilliant multi-toned ginger still filling Hux’s palm like a base of light for the thing, the ends flaring out further and shifting into gold. A few even thinner strands appeared within the ginger bloom, pale, golden, and feather like.

It should have been obvious from the beginning what was growing from the formless light, but Hux was nevertheless surprised at the luminescent flower resting impossibly within the palm of his hand. The hum of power still surged across Hux’s skin, suffusing the air around them, tingling, humming, warm and indescribably familiar.

Kylo’s lips brushed Hux’s cheek, down his neck and back before pressing gently to Hux’s ear, "gingerbells." Hux could swear he felt fingers stroke through his hair as Kylo kissed him gently again and again, but he couldn’t have, Kylo’s hands were right in his line of sight. "I love gingerbells."

"They’re…" Hux whispered, still somewhat awed. The glow emanating from the flower appeared natural, as though it always did so rather than it being a side effect of Kylo’s power. Perhaps they did; Hux had never seen them to truly know. "They’re beautiful."

"Like you," he hummed, "just like you. My gingerbell."

Hux turned his head, leaning back just slightly to better see the man. Kylo’s various and unending declarations of love were far from rare, but seeing a physical manifestation of those sentiments brought with it a swell of emotion Hux wasn’t expecting. A sudden and wholly unanticipated sort of push within his chest, just beneath his ribs, forcing the air from his lungs and his thoughts into disarray. He felt compelled to speak, to reciprocate, to do _something_ , but he was wordless, in voice and mind.

His gaze and grin warm, Kylo gently maneuvered Hux around in his embrace, breaking the magic keeping the flower present and radiant in Hux’s palm. Though Hux would deny it, he whimpered lightly as the otherworldly plant vanished into a gentle waft of light and color like smoke from a candle.

Kylo’s hands cupped either side of Hux’s face as he leaned in to press their lips together, gentle and chaste, "my gingerbell."

Unable to stop himself, Hux sighed through a grin before pressing back, his arms coming up to wrap around the man’s neck, one hand twining into Kylo’s thick, dark hair. "My sweet, far too dramatic, silly little faerie."

Kylo smiled wider before pulling Hux in and deepening the kiss, his hands soon shifting from Hux’s face; one settling around his waist at his lower back and the other sliding up into Hux’s hair and ruffling the loose style out of place. It wasn’t long before their exhales were heavy, every one eager and hot, both fighting the necessity for oxygen as they molded against one another.

The warmth of the breeze felt like nothing, almost like an easy coolness compared to how their skin started to burn.

"Armitage," Kylo breathed, low and desperate into Hux’s mouth, his hand sliding up beneath the hem of Hux’s fitted shirt.

Even with the atmosphere growing thick, the tingle and warmth under his skin as Kylo’s power drew them into a world of their own, Hux wasn’t so far gone not to notice Kylo’s large hand rucking up the back of his shirt. Soon that breeze was on his skin and Hux felt a different type of goosebumps forcing a quiver down his spine.

"Kylo," he warned gently, easing his grip and the pressure of his mouth, "we can’t do that here."

Clearly defiant, Kylo kept him close, pouting as their kisses slowed, "why not?"

"Because," Hux panted softly, drawing back as much as he could, "we just…can’t. People don’t…" Hux felt the light flush his cheeks had taken on growing darker as several very inappropriate thoughts crossed his mind. "We just can’t."

Able now, Kylo searched Hux’s eyes, his head tilting curiously while he continued to pout, "but I want to."

Hux sighed, his blush still strong, "yes, well, you can’t just do anything you want simply because you want to."

Kylo’s gentle frown deepened, the subtle puzzled crease between his dark brows furrowing more as he thought silently. Although his expressive eyes were still fixed with Hux’s, there was a glaze to them, a half aware quality that told Hux Kylo was thinking intently—and that sort of expression tended to end with unexpected outcomes. Suddenly Kylo pulled back while one of his large hands went down to tightly grasp one of Hux’s and started tugging him forward, back across the field of spring wakened flowers. The move jarred Hux, startling him enough that he stumbled over his own feet for a moment.

Managing his footing, Hux quickly fell in step at Kylo’s side, "where are we going?"

"We’re going home. I want to have sex with you," Kylo declared unflinchingly, far too calm and brazen as usual, not even looking at Hux as he walked them swiftly across the field. With a thoughtful tilt of his head, he added, "then we make pancakes, the kind with the blueberries and chocolate, then play with Millicent."

Hux simply stared, his cheeks again far darker and practically burning, though this time he soon rolled his eyes, having become familiar with Kylo’s direct way of speaking even if he wasn’t truly accustomed to it yet.

For the nth time since meeting the faerie, Hux could only wonder on just what exactly his life had become. On what strange, ridiculous, fantastical realm he’d fallen into. But, to be perfectly honest, Hux had stopped caring long ago whether any of this absurdity was real or just some terribly vivid coma dream any longer. His life was, simply put, weird, and very possibly a figment. But, either way, it was inescapably a fairytale. A silly, too sentimental, utterly impossible, fucking fairytale.

Kylo glanced over to him for the first time since he began pulling Hux from the field, _their_ field, colorful and shifting with life. There was a warm, wholly contented smile on his face, young and innocent and so unfairly lovely, yet even now Hux could detect that fleck of dark and depth always present in the expressive brown. Hux felt himself smiling back, the gentle curl of his lips far softer than usual—the kind he could only manage when looking at his silly faerie—, and he tightened his grip in Kylo’s, the man reciprocating immediately, eagerly.

Yes. Yes, Hux was very fine with it.

His fucking faerie.

…His fucking fairytale.

……And his fucking happily ever after.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! I hope you enjoyed this simple, sweet, fluffy little idea that came to me and I wanted to write. Also, soft fluffy things are necessary. Especially Kylux ones.
> 
> Fun fact! As you can see, they did totally adopt the ginger fluff ball Millicent because Hux already grew attached. Kylo quickly does as well, and loves to play with her in his traditional form—7”, the average being 5-6”. Hux’s fantasies becoming reality do not help his struggles with living in a _fucking fairytale_.
> 
> This wasn’t terribly long (for me, at least; apparently I can’t do short), and I honestly felt it didn’t need to be. After the angst and slow burn of my first piece, I believed some fluffy goodness was in order :)
> 
>  
> 
>  _Anyways_ … here's my [tumblr](http://nonsensicalsoliloquy.tumblr.com/), in case anyone is interested, and as always any and all forms of love are still very much appreciated!! <3


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